Karunanidhi consulting party leaders on Cong offer

DMK chief M Karunanidhi tonight held informal discussions with his senior party leaders on Congress party's offer of three cabinet ministers and four ministers of state in a bid to end the deadlock between the two parties on ministerial berths and portfolios.

DMK sources said Prime minister Manmohan Singh's reported "clarification" that he was not averse to accommodating former ministers T R Balu and A Raja was positive.

Former union minister Dayanidhi Maran, who came out of the meeting, told reporters that "we hope issues will be resolved soon."

"In negotaions, there are always ups and downs and we are hopeful that the issues will be resolved," he said, adding the media speculation might hamper the negotations and appealed to journalists not to indulge in it.

Senior leaders N Veeraswamy, Karunanidhi's son M K Stalin, daughter Kanimozhi and grand nephew Dayanidhi were among those who attended the meeting.

Earlier in the day, Karunanidhi returned here from Delhi after talks between Congress and DMK leaders failed to make any headway on the number of ministerial berths and portfolios.